First class cabin on Hawaiian’s A321neo, coming to a new San Diego-Maui route in 2018. (Image: Hawaiian)

In domestic route news, Hawaiian Airlines will increase service to the islands from the West Coast next year; Alaska Airlines is about to begin a new Hawaii route from San Francisco; American adds Oakland as a spoke from a major hub, and plans several other new routes; JetBlue adds more transcontinental Mint service this month; and Spirit unveils 10 new domestic route starting next spring.

Hawaiian Airlines, which is on the verge of beginning commercial service with its new Airbus A321neos, said it will use the planes to expand service from the West Coast next year. The airline will add a new route on May 1 between San Diego and Kahului Airport on Maui using an A321neo, and will begin extra seasonal summer flights with the aircraft (in addition to its regular schedule) between San Francisco and Honolulu from May 26 through July 31, and between Oakland and Kona from May 26 through September 2. The carrier has also scheduled an extra seasonal flight between Los Angeles and Kahului, Maui from June 1-August 31, using an A330.

According to FlightGlobal.com, Hawaiian will actually start flying the new A221neos on December 19, deploying them on inter-island routes to familiarize its flight crews with the aircraft. The carrier is due to put the planes into mainland service starting January 8 from Oakland to Maui, and on January 18 from Portland to Maui.

Speaking of Hawaii, Alaska Airlines next week will start flying the last of several new Bay Area routes that it announced earlier this year. On December 14, the carrier will inaugurate daily service between San Francisco and Kona, on the Big Island, using a Virgin America aircraft. The SFO departure time is scheduled for 11 a.m.

American will use an A320 on its new Oakland-DFW route. (Image: Jim Glab)

American Airlines will kick off new Bay Area service next spring. The carrier plans to start daily flights on April 3 between Oakland and its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub, with an 11:50 a.m. departure from OAK and a 9:10 a.m. departure from DFW, using an A320. American also announced some new domestic routes out of its Chicago O’Hare hub starting next spring, including twice-daily ORD-Charleston, S.C. flights beginning May 4; and weekend-only service from ORD to Bangor, Maine and Myrtle Beach, S.C., starting June 7, using American Eagle/Envoy Air CRJ700s. At Phoenix, American will kick off daily flights to Amarillo, Tex. and Oklahoma City on April 3, using Mesa Airlines CRJ900s. On the same date, it will add twice-daily LaGuardia-Portland, Maine service with Enviy Air ERJ140s.

Elsewhere, American’s 2018 schedule includes some new Saturday-only seasonal routes, all flown with regional jets, including DFW-Asheville, N.C., DFW-Myrtle Beach, DFW-Wilmington and Los Angeles-Bozeman, Mont., all operating June 9-August 18; LAX-Flagstaff, Ariz., May 5-September 1; and New York LaGuardia-Traverse City, Mich., June 23-September 2. Finally, on February 14, the company will terminate its American Eagle/SkyWest service from Phoenix to Bullhead City, Ariz./Laughlin, Nevada, due to a lack of passenger demand.

The next step in JetBlue’s ongoing expansion of its premium-cabin Mint service, with lie-flat seats, comes on December 10, when the carrier is slated to introduce a Mint-equipped aircraft on one of its daily San Diego-Boston flights, adding a second daily Mint flight on the route starting December 20. It already offers Mint cabins on two daily San Diego-New York JFK flights. Last month, JetBlue added Mint service on two daily New York JFK-Las Vegas flights.

Spirit Airlines unveiled a bunch of new domestic routes that will kick off next spring, including daily year-round service from Baltimore/Washington to Denver beginning March 22; daily year-round flights between Tampa-Los Angeles, Tampa-Las Vegas and Orlando-Las Vegas starting April 12; daily seasonal service from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning April 12; and daily seasonal flights from Detroit to San Diego and Portland kicking off April 23.

Will Southwest take on Hawaiian Airlines on inter-island routes? (Image: Jim Glab)

Now that Southwest Airlines has confirmed its intentions to start flying to Hawaii, probably in 2018, there are new reports that the carrier might initiate inter-island service there as well.

Southwest plans to use its new Boeing 737MAX aircraft — which have a longer range than earlier versions of the single-aisle plane — to begin flights from the West Coast. But the company also reportedly sees considerable market potential for flights between the islands. That would give new competition to Hawaiian Airlines (which is due to begin its own narrow-body service from the West Coast in January, using new Airbus A321neos to replace twin-aisle A330s and 767s).

A Hawaiian Airlines inter-island 717 (Image: Hawaiian Airlines)

There’s certainly room for some competition on inter-island routes. A quick look at an airline schedule guide shows that Hawaiian is the only listed jet operator on routes from Honolulu to Hilo and Kona on the Big Island, to Kahului on Maui, to Lihue on Kauai, and to Lanai. Hawaiian uses 123-passenger 717s on inter-island routes.

There has been a little competition from Island Air, which has just three turboprops, but that company filed for bankruptcy last month. And Kona-based Mokulele Airlines has a number of flights, but with nine-passenger single-engine Cessnas.

Hawaii is the only state where travel between major cities requires an airplane (boats take too long, and there are no bridges). And a lot of people take those trips.

Source: Google Maps

Only about 30 percent of passengers on inter-island flights are connecting from long-haul service to Hawaii, and the traffic on those intrastate routes is considerable: e.g., more than a million passengers a year between Honolulu and Maui – or 40 percent more than on the crowded Boston Logan-New York LaGuardia route.

One deterrent for Southwest could be the size of its 737s and whether there is sufficient demand to keep them operating full enough and frequently enough to turn a profit. SFGate.com has a good analysis of Southwest’s potential inter-island incursion.

Delta One (business class) on an A330 is a new option to London (Image: Delta)

In international route developments, Hong Kong Airlines details its plans for San Francisco service; Delta will increase London Heathrow capacity next year with bigger aircraft; Virgin Atlantic will put 747s onto two U.S. routes; Lufthansa moves into Airberlin markets; Norwegian adds an ultra-long haul low-fare route; Hawaiian switches code-share allegiance to Japan Airlines; and American and United alter their Cuba services.

Delta is making some changes to its London Heathrow service next year, giving it a lot more capacity from key hubs. The company said that effective March 24, it will change equipment on its LHR routes out of New York JFK, Atlanta and Detroit from the current 208-passenger 767-300s to 293-seat Airbus A330s. Delta One flat-bed seats in the A330s have that herringbone layout with aisle access for all. Delta will also slightly alter its JFK joint venture schedule with Virgin Atlantic; the current schedule of five Virgin and three Delta flights a day will change to six Virgin and two Delta departures.

While Delta recently publicized some new Europe routes it is adding in 2018, it did not publicize some that it is dropping. That includes seasonal summer service from New York JFK to Moscow Sheremetyevo and to Stockholm Arlanda, and from Philadelphia to Paris CDG.

Hong Kong Airlines, partly owned by China’s Hainan Airlines, will begin service between Hong Kong and Los Angeles in mid-December. A few weeks ago, we reported that the airline also has its eye on other U.S. gateways, and it has just revealed it plans for Hong Kong-San Francisco service. The carrier plans to start flying HKG-SFO on March 25 with four flights a week, increasing to daily frequencies by August 18, according to Routesonline.com. Both LAX and San Francisco flights will use A350-900s with 33 fully-reclining business class seats, 108 in “Economy Comfort” class, and 193 in regular economy. Will a new entrant be able to compete in a crowded SFO market against Cathay Pacific’s three daily flights to Hong Kong, plus service from United and Singapore? We’ll see…

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic also has some good news for fans of the fast-disappearing Boeing 747. On March 26, Virgin will put a 747-400 onto its daily Manchester-Atlanta service twice a week, increasing to three a week May 26. And on May 22, it will start using a 747-400 on four of its seven weekly JFK-Manchester flights. The other flights on both routes use A330s.

Lufthansa will fly A330 on two U.S. routes–but not to its hubs. (Image: Lufthansa)

Germany’s bankrupt Airberlin keeps limping along as it negotiates the sale of its assets to competitors, but that hasn’t stopped Lufthansa from targeting a couple of Airberlin routes. Lufthansa just announced a pair of new U.S. routes starting this fall – neither one to its hubs at Frankfurt or Munich. On November 7 Lufthansa will kick off New York JFK-Berlin service five days a week with an A330-300 (its first Berlin wide-body service in 16 years), followed on November 8 by Miami-Dusseldorf A330-300 flights three days a week. Next summer, both routes will be transferred to Lufthansa’s Eurowings subsidiary. (Meanwhile, the Oneworld alliance has suspended mileage earning and spending privileges on Airberlin flights for members of other Oneworld airline frequent flyer programs.)

What is the world’s longest route operated by a low-cost airline? As of this week, it’s London Gatwick-Singapore, just launched by Norwegian – its first route to Asia. The carrier is using a 787-9 to fly the 6,764-mile route (12 hours 45 minutes) four times a week, with one-way base fares starting as low as 150 pounds ($201) (plus lots of fees, of course). Norwegian flies to London Gatwick from several U.S. cities – most recently adding Denver-Gatwick and Seattle-Gatwick flights.

Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines have announced a new code-share partnership that starts March 25, subject to government approval. “The two carriers also intend to establish a joint venture designed to provide even more choices, convenience and enhancements to the traveling public to/from Japan and beyond to multiple Asian markets,” Hawaiian said. Specific code-shared flights and routes haven’t yet been announced, but Hawaiian said its passengers will have “full access to Japan’s domestic network,” including Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendai and Aomori. The pact also includes reciprocal mileage earning and spending on code-shared flights, as well as mutual airport lounge access. Hawaiian is moving into JAL’s Terminal 2 at Tokyo Narita to facilitate easy connections. The deal also means the end of Hawaiian’s code-sharing partnership with ANA.

U.S. carriers continue to adjust their Cuba services as they get a better handle on consumer demand for flights to the island nation. American Airlines plans to terminate its daily Miami-Cienfuegos E175 flights on January 7, and United has applied for government approval to increase its service from Houston Bush Intercontinental to Havana from weekly Saturday-only flights to daily frequencies. It didn’t specify a start date for the increase.

I’ve been to Honolulu several times and have always enjoyed flying Hawaiian Airlines. After a two-year break from visiting Oahu, I bought a roundtrip Economy ticket in mid-December for $588. I flew from SFO to HNL in June and got to check out some of the new features on their Airbus A330.

(This Trip Report is written by TravelSkills’ very own Kim Grimes.)

Sleek Premium Cabin seats (Image: Kim Grimes)

Chris contacted Hawaiian Airlines in advance and arranged for me to get on the plane before boarding to snap some photos. The crew seemed to be in a bit of a rush but they were very kind and welcoming. I checked out the sleek new lie-flat seats in the Premium Cabin first.

The lie-flat seats are in sets of two (2-2-2) with nature-inspired dividers in the center that you can pull up out of the arm rest for privacy. The reclining wheel in the arm rest allows for passengers to lie flat or find the perfect spot for them anywhere between flat and upright. When the seat is completely flat, it connects to the footrest efficiently adding length for comfort.

The modern design includes plenty of in-seat power with two USB ports and an AC port in each seat. Passengers in the premium cabin are given tablets to enjoy in-flight entertainment which they can place on the adjustable retractable tablet stand in the arm rest.

After taking a moment to enjoy the lie-flat seat, I moved on to check out the Extra Comfort seats. These seats are similar to the Economy seats in appearance, but they have extra leg room and come with a few additional amenities.

When I tried Extra Comfort, I had plenty of room to stretch out my legs with 36″ pitch – or more in the bulkhead (Image: Kim Grimes)

Extra Comfort seats have a pitch of 36 inches which was more than enough room for me, at 5’4’’, to fully extend my legs while seated. In addition to the spare room to stretch out Extra Comfort passengers receive benefits like priority boarding and access to a priority security line at select airports, including SFO.

An aisle seat in Economy class: 37C (Image: Kim Grimes)

After I took photos of the premium and Extra Comfort seats, it was just about time to board. I went back to the gate to meet my family and then made my way to the Economy seats noting the nice and relaxing Hawaiian music that played throughout the cabin. I always claim the window seat and got comfortable in 37A with my sister seated next to me in 37B.

I was feeling a little stressed after guiding my family through the airport, so I really appreciated watching Hawaiian musicians play calming and welcoming songs on the seatback entertainment screen before takeoff. Hawaiian Airlines offers an unlimited television and film package for $7.99, but I never pay for in-flight entertainment and opted to flip through the Hawaiian Airlines magazine. The magazine is called Hana Hou! meaning “Encore!” They always have interesting stories about local businesses, Hawaiian culture, and art. I particularly enjoyed its interview with the creator of Hawaiian Ola noni beverages that I love drinking for an energy boost.

View from the back of economy cabin on a Hawaiian Air A330 (Image: Kim Grimes)

For the morning meal service, Economy class passengers received a hot breakfast sandwich, fruit, and a cookie from the Honolulu Cookie Company. I decided to have some guava juice with my meal as well.

I ate the fruit first which was nothing spectacular, but it was refreshing. The sandwich was really heavy and tasted mostly like buttery biscuit to me. I’m not usually keen on biscuits, but I ate the whole thing hoping that it would help me fall asleep; it definitely did.

My favorite part of the meal was the chocolate chip macadamia cookie. I love these cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company but rarely buy them because I find them to be a bit pricey, so I was excited to enjoy one for free on the flight.

After the meal service, I tuned in to one of the free Hawaiian music radio stations and dozed off.

Koloa rum punch was so good that I had to stop and get my own bottle later. (Image: Kim Grimes)

I woke up a little over an hour before we landed just in time to receive my complimentary snack and cocktail. The cocktail was Hawaiian rum punch made by the Koloa Rum Company. The premixed cocktail had Koloa white rum from Kauai, lilikoi (passionfruit), orange, guava puree, and locally sourced cane sugar. I was worried it would be too sweet for me, but it was actually really well-balanced and delicious with my Sweet Maui Onion Hawaiian Chips.

Landing around noon at HNL (Image: Kim Grimes)

Although we left SFO a little late, we landed in Honolulu on time at 11:45am. Overall, our flight was smooth and enjoyable as all of my flights with Hawaiian Airlines have been. I really appreciate the effort that they put in to making passengers feel comfortable and welcomed.

Now let’s take a look at my return flight:

Lunch service as presented by FA with coupon for free custom Shutterfly photo book (Image: Kim Grimes)

Two weeks later, my family and I returned to SFO with Hawaiian Airlines. On this flight, I was really looking forward to the afternoon meal service since the airline usually serves a stir-fry and rice which is one of my favorite comfort meals in economy class.

On this flight, I had a chicken and vegetable stir-fry with white rice, coleslaw, and a cookie from Honolulu’s La Tour Bakehouse. Complimentary red or white wine was offered with this meal, but I opted for a POG (passion orange guava) juice instead.

Returning to the Bay Area at sunset (Image: Kim Grimes)

I fought the urge to fall asleep and stayed up for the majority of this flight reading and glancing out the window. I love when I can catch the sunrise or sunset during a flight and was happy to see the sun setting shortly before we landed at SFO. It was a beautiful way to end a long vacation.

Hawaiian Airlines’ aircraft livery and logo hasn’t been updated in 15 years, so the company decided it was time for a refresh – and it unveiled the modified look this week.

The new look is nice, but fares to Hawaii on Hawaiian and other carriers have remained stubbornly high for the last several months. It’s now very rare if not impossible to find roundtrip fares from the West Coast below $400. For summer season, most fares from the West Coast are already in the $500-$700 range. Ouch. When fares stay high, that means demand is high- which is good for the airlines and helps fund improvements like updated liveries. But it makes it an even pricier proposition to get to paradise! (Which is why I recently turned to my frequent flyer miles to pay for a recent trip.) But I digress.

This is Hawaiian’s current livery which will soon be phased out (Image: Airbus)

Hawaiian’s new livery features more purple and deeper orange, and it retains the image of the Hawaiian maiden called Pualani on the tail, but with a new design– and a bit of a grin. A silver rendering of a flower wreath known as a Maile lei is wrapped around the fuselage.

The modification will be extended to the rest of its 50-plane fleet in the months to come.

The new look “is the next step in a series of major investments that Hawaiian has made to aircraft cabins, lounges, and other aspects of the experience over the past five years,” a spokesperson said. “The airline will also roll out new uniforms for its frontline employees by the end of 2017.”

Last month, Hawaiian revealed the interior designs for the new Airbus A321s that it plans to start flying on routes to the West Coast. The carrier also recently started selling new premium cabin lie-flat seats on its A330s.

Which airline do you fly most often to Hawaii? Why? Please leave your comments below.

Hawaiian will start taking delivery of Airbus A321neos later this year. (Image: Airbus)

Hawaiian Airlines plans to introduce next-generation, single-aisle aircraft onto its routes to the western U.S., perhaps as soon as late this year, and has just unveiled the interior design of the new planes.

The carrier has ordered 18 new A321neo aircraft from Airbus, and will take delivery from the fourth quarter of this year through 2020.

First class cabin on Hawaiian’s A321neo. (Image: Hawaiian)

“The A321neos will complement Hawaiian’s fleet of long-haul, twin-aisle aircraft used for flying between Hawaii and the U.S. Mainland and 11 international destinations, and its narrow-body Boeing 717 fleet flying short, interisland routes,” Hawaiian said. Specific routes have not yet been announced.

Hawaiian’s A321neos will be configured with 16 seats in first class, 45 in Extra Comfort and 128 in regular economy. Premium cabin seats will be leather recliners, and the Extra Comfort section will provide five more inches of legroom than regular economy.

Seats in every section will come with USB outlets, and those in the two front cabins will also have an AC power outlet. Overhead bins will pivot to provide extra storage space. The interiors will also feature an LED mood lighting system.

A new feature for Hawaiian passengers on the A321neos will be wireless streaming in-flight entertainment. Customers can download an app onto personal electronic devices that will give them access to free movies, TV shows and other content. Regrettably, these planes will not offer inflight wifi.

Hawaiian Air flight 43 took off from San Jose, and returned 4 hours later (Image: Flight Aware)

Here we go again…

Last month we reported on a United flight that took off from SFO bound for Hawaii, but due to a mechanical issue, circled off the California coast for four hours before returning to SFO. That post ended up being one of the most popular posts this year on the TravelSkills.com blog.

Well guess what? It happened again on Tuesday, March 7. This time it was Hawaiian Air flight 43 from San Jose International to Honolulu on a Boeing 767.

Instead of getting to Honolulu, passengers had to return to San Jose. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The flight was ready to go, but an onboard generator broke down requiring repairs, according to a CBSBayArea report. That delayed take off for two hours.

Once the B767 took off pointed toward paradise, the generator malfunctioned again, which meant returning to San Jose.

However, a big 767 loaded down with the fuel necessary for the 2,500 mile flight to Honolulu is not able to safely land. In order to reduce fuel weight, the pilot had to circle off the coast for three hours to burn off fuel.

Turns out that like the United flight to nowhere, this Boeing 767-300 is unable to dump fuel to lighten up quickly for a safe landing. The only way to lose that weight is to circle a safe distance from the airport until enough fuel has burned off.

But unlike the United flight to nowhere, Hawaiian was unable bring in another plane to re-accommodate passengers. CBS reports that passengers had to re-book flights for the following day.

Here’s Hawaiian Airlines’ statement on the incident: HA43, scheduled to depart SJC at 9:10 a.m. local time, was delayed until 11:21 a.m. due to a part replacement. En route to Honolulu, the captain received notification of a mechanical issue and elected to return to San Jose. The aircraft landed safely at 2:52 p.m. local time and after inspection by maintenance the flight was later cancelled. There were 241 passengers and 11 crew. All passengers were re-protected on other flights and airlines.

Yuck. And increasingly common, or so it sounds!

NOTE: Last time we posted about this, lot of readers wondered why the airline didn’t just fly the plane to Hawaii if they were going to circle for four hours anyway. The reason is that airlines don’t want to fly a faulty aircraft thousands of miles out over the ocean. Instead, pilots circle within a few hundred miles of the airport so they can land if they have to. Here’s an image of how far the flight is to Hawaii… and how close the plane stayed to SJC.

Lyft is dumping the pink moustache for a new look, and its pick-ups will soon be color-coded. The new dash-mounted Lyft Amp will glow orange, pink, purple, silver, teal or yellow which will help riders more easily spot their ride. See the video for how it will work:

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Lie-flat seats in Hawaiian’s new A330 Premium Cabins are now on sale. (Image: Hawaiian Airlines)

That new Premium Cabin that Hawaiian Airlines has been promising has finally gone on sale, offering lie-flat seats and high-end amenities for travel starting in early December on the airline’s routes to Asia/Pacific destinations.

Called simply the Premium Cabin, the new service is being installed in Hawaiian’s Airbus A330s, and will initially be available on flights from Honolulu to Tokyo Narita, Brisbane and Auckland starting December 5, and to Sydney as of December 13. (See press release here)

The Premium Cabin has 18 lie-flat leather seats that are 20.5 inches wide and 76 inches long, in a 2-2-2 layout. Front-cabin travelers get new amenity kits, cotton quilts and lounging pillows, as well as two USB ports and one A/C outlet. The new in-flight entertainment system – with more than 100 hours of movie and TV programming – is available via 13-inch tablets that sit on a telescoping arm. The Premium Cabin also offers new in-flight dining options with regional dishes from Hawaiian chefs.

The new service will become available on more routes as the airline continues to refit its fleet of 23 A330s, with the work continuing into next year. Besides the new Premium Cabin, the planes will also get 28 more Extra Comfort seats – the carrier’s premium economy option. The refit will trim total capacity on the widebodies from 294 seats to 278, including 18 in Premium Cabin, 68 in Extra Comfort and 192 in the main cabin (which will still provide 31-inch pitch, the airline notes).

Seat recline is adjusted by turning a small wheel. (Image: Hawaiian Airlines)

We found Premium Cabin roundtrip fares priced as low as $4,059 from HNL to Tokyo in February, and $3,749 to Sydney in March.

From SFO or LAX, you can fly Hawaiian business class via HNL to Tokyo in mid-December for about $4,700 round trip. Business class from SFO or LAX roundtrip to Sydney is in the $7,500 range.

Hawaiian is not part of any of the big three global airline alliances, but it maintains partnership agreements with seven airlines (including JetBlue and Virgin America, but no longer with American), which allow members of frequent flyer programs to earn and burn miles on Hawaiian flights.

It’s increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Hawaiian’s lie-flat seats on the West Coast over the long term because the carrier will soon begin to deploy its newest 190-seat Airbus A321 on these shorter routes where a lie-flat seat is likely superfluous.

Would you consider flying Hawaiian Airlines across the Pacific with a stopover in Honolulu? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below.

Hawaiian Airlines has revealed details of the planned makeover of its A330 fleet, including a new Premium (business class) Cabin with lie-flat seats and the addition of more “Extra Comfort” (premium economy) seats with more legroom than regular economy.

The new Premium Cabin will still have 18 seats, as Hawaiian’s Business/First cabin has now. But the new seats will recline into beds that lie flat, featuring 20.5-inch width and 76-inch length. They’ll be in a 2-2-2 configuration, offering “intuitive” seat controls as well as two USB ports and one A/C power outlet for each seat.

Intuitive seat controls include a unique wheel that regulates the degree of recline. (Image: Hawaiian)

Those seat controls include a new “reclining wheel” that passengers can use to set the exact amount of recline they like, up to 180 degrees.

In the past, Hawaiian was primarily a West Coast – Hawaii operation. But recently Hawaiian has added new nonstops to New York (10 hours) and is building up at a transpacific powerhouse with flights between its Honolulu hub and biz travel destinations in Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. To compete in these long-haul markets, it needs a lie-flat seat up front.

In-flight entertainment can be seen on tablets that rest on an adjustable arm. (Image: Hawaiian)

Meanwhile, the A330’s Extra Comfort (premium economy) section will get an additional 28 seats, for a total of 68. Main cabin seating will be reduced from 236 to 192. Extra Comfort seats provide 36 inches of pitch, and purchasers also get priority boarding, complimentary on-demand entertainment and a power outlet. Hawaiian said seat pitch in the standard economy will still be 31 inches on the reconfigured planes.

The airline said the first newly configured A330 will start flying in West Coast-Hawaii service during June, but it won’t say where. “Sales for the Premium Cabin are expected to commence in the fall, when the first dedicated routes will be revealed along with new signature service elements and a host of new amenities,” the company said. The overhaul of its A330 fleet is expected to be completed by early 2018.

Hawaiian is not part of any of the big three global airline alliances, but it maintains partnership agreements with seven airlines (including JetBlue and Virgin America, but no longer with American), which allow members of frequent flyer programs to earn and burn miles on Hawaiian flights.

It’s increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Hawaiian’s lie-flat seats on the West Coast over the long term because the carrier will soon begin to deploy its newest 190-seat Airbus A321 on these shorter routes where a lie-flat seat is likely superfluous.

Have you flown Hawaiian Air? What did you think? Would you consider it for a transpacific trip? Please leave comments below.

Delta has started new service from Raleigh-Durham to Paris. (Image: Jim Glab)

In the latest international route developments, Delta adds a European route from Raleigh-Durham; Turkish Airlines makes its Atlanta debut; Japan’s ANA will add a pair of U.S. routes to Tokyo Haneda as American carriers wait for word on new Haneda slots, with Hawaiian Airlines the first winner; Air India plans new Newark service via London; and Air China boosts Newark frequencies.

It’s not really a big Delta hub, but Delta is the largest airline at Raleigh-Durham, so the carrier has started new daily flights from RDU to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Delta is using a 164-seat 757-200ER on the new route to Paris, where customers can connect to 75 onward destinations thanks to Delta’s joint venture partners Air France, KM and Alitalia.

Turkish Airlines is using a 777-300ER on its new Atlanta route. (Image: Boeing)

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport rolled out the water cannon this week to welcome the first flight there from Turkish Airlines. The Turkish carrier will offer daily service on the Atlanta-Istanbul route with a 777-300ER. It’s the ninth U.S. gateway for Turkish Airlines, along with New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Boston and Washington Dulles. Delta was supposed to resume seasonal service this month between New York JFK and Istanbul, but it decided last month to suspend that service, citing security concerns.

Tokyo Haneda Airport is on the airline industry’s mind these days as the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to announce any time now which U.S. carriers will get new daytime slots there. Since Haneda opened up to transpacific flights, U.S. carriers have been restricted to arrivals and departures late at night or very early in the morning, which made it difficult to attract passengers, even though Haneda is much closer to downtown Tokyo than Narita Airport.

Tokyo-bound tails at Honolulu International (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

But an amended agreement with Japan will open up some daytime slots at Haneda starting October 30, and the big U.S. carriers have been clamoring for those much-desired rights. In its first decision on Haneda, DOT granted Hawaiian Airlines rights to serve Haneda from Honolulu and Kona – but mostly because it was willing to accept an overnight slot. Hawaiian plans to fly the route four times a week from Honolulu and three from Kona, but the starting date hasn’t yet been set. And even though the new daytime slots haven’t yet been awarded, Delta and United have already started taking reservations for new schedules this fall on their Los Angeles-Haneda and San Francisco-Haneda routes respectively.

Meanwhile, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) already won new daytime slots at Haneda, and said it will use them starting October 30 for daily flights from New York JFK and Chicago O’Hare. ANA also flies to Haneda from Los Angeles, Honolulu and Vancouver.

August 15 is the starting date for Air India service from Ahmedabad to Newark Liberty International, a route that it will fly three times a week with a 787-8. The new service will operate via a stop at London Heathrow. Also at Newark, Air China plans to increase frequencies from four a week to seven on its EWR-Beijing route from July 22 through August 24. It also serves New York JFK.

Dreaming of a discounted fare to Hawaii this winter? Then you are in luck.

Ever since Virgin announced its new nonstops from SFO to Honolulu and Maui last spring, we’ve been monitoring fares for discounts and deals with little luck. In our mind, a “good deal” to Hawaii is now anything less than $400 from the west cost. Over the last couple months, it has been tough to find anything for less than $500.

All that changed today when Virgin’s first nonstop (dubbed “Pineapple Express”) took off from SFO and it kicked off a fare sale to celebrate. (Stay tuned for photos below from today’s very Virgin celebration at SFO– we’ll post them below.)

This morning, Virgin publicly discounted round trip fares on SFO-HNL to just $398 round trip. When we went to take a look at fares, we found them as low as $338 round trip on a handful of flights. Not bad!

One example of a Virgin $338 fare

From New York and Boston round trip fares on Virgin fell to $680 round trip. Chicago -Honolulu round trips fell to $560 round trip. These deals are good for trips between now and March with the usual restrictions around days of week and holidays. Tickets must be booked by midnight November 4.

Hawaiian Air discounted fares slightly more… with several fares coming in slightly less at $393 roundtrip. Delta’s nonstops on SFO-HNL came in at about $415.

United then joined the fun, matching Virgin’s $398 fare, but adding this kicker: It discounted MileagePlus redemptions for mainland-Hawaii round trips by 20% to just to 36,000 miles (down from 45,000).

Not to be outdone, Oakland International put on a big Hawaii-style celebration this morning, and announced that it would offer free parking for up to five days to those flying Alaska or Hawaiian to Hawaii, plus ticket giveaways along with hula dancers, island music and leis.

NOTE: All fares checked on Monday, Nov 2 and subject to change!

In another bit of news released today, Virgin said that its Elevate members now have the opportunity to earn points for every Airbnb reservation they make. Get 1,500 Elevate points for your first Airbnb stay, then one point per dollar spent on all subsequent completed Airbnb stays. Become an Airbnb host and you’ll score 20,000 Elevate points. For more, visit: virginamerica.com/airbnb.

With a new competitor in the market and decreasing fuel costs, I suspect we’ll be seeing more discounts to Hawaii in coming months – but likely not to the degree we are seeing today. Are you planning to go?

At TravelSkills we live by the motto “once you go flat, you never go back,” and it sounds like Hawaiian Air agrees.

This week the carrier announced that it will add a stylish new lie-flat business class seat to its A330 widebody fleet. It’s also adding more premium economy seats.

Why? Because Hawaiian’s route structure is changing.

In the past, it was primarily a West Coast – Hawaii operation. But recently Hawaiian has added new nonstops to New York (10 hours) and is building up at a transpacific powerhouse with flights between its Honolulu hub and biz travel destinations in Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. To compete in these long-haul markets, it needs a lie-flat seat up front.

“The 180-degree seats will use an innovative seat platform to fold into 76-inch beds, maximizing living space for travelers while providing options for both privacy and a shared flight experience. They will also feature an advanced in-flight entertainment experience powered by the next generation of large-format tablets and equipped with a telescoping tablet arm that adjusts to optimize viewing angle and comfort….The cabin design will incorporate flowing curves evocative of the winds and ocean, while marrying organic textures, pops of bright saturated color, and luxury materials like leather from Poltrona Frau.”

The A330s will get 18 of the new seats configured 2-2-2 (a slightly larger footprint as the current first class configuration). To make room for the larger footprint, there will be fewer premium economy seats in the forward cabin- two rows instead of the current three. (see SeatGuru).

Hawaiian Airlines front-of-the-plane setup has first and premium economy in the same cabin. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In addition to the new seat, Hawaiian is expanding the number of its Extra Comfort (premium economy) seats on the A330 from the current 40 seats to 68 seats. Extra Comfort seats get a roomy 36 inches of pitch (compared to 31 inches in standard economy), plus passengers get early boarding, free inflight entertainment and electrical outlets at each seat.

The new configuration will have fewer (278) seats overall: 18 in Business/First Class, 68 in Extra Comfort and 192 in the economy.

Nice seats, but it’s going to be a while until we see them… installation does not begin until mid 2016, and Hawaiian has not said on which routes the new seats will first appear. All its A330’s should have the new seats by the end of 2017.

It’s increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Hawaiian’s lie-flat seats on the West Coast because the carrier will soon begin to deploy its newest 190-seat Airbus A321 on these shorter routes where a lie-flat seat is likely superfluous.

Hawaiian is not part of any of the big three global airline alliances, but it maintains partnership agreements with eight airlines (including American, JetBlue and Virgin America), which allow members of frequent flyer programs to earn and burn miles on Hawaiian flights.

Would you choose Hawaiian for a transpacific flight? Which carrier do you fly most often to Hawaii? Why? Please leave your comments below.

Hawaiian adds seats. Hawaiian Airlines is increasing the capacity of its inter-island 717s from 115 to 120 passengers with the installation of new “slimline” seats. While some travelers have found the extra-slender seats to be less comfortable than the traditional kind, Hawaiian figures its passengers shouldn’t mind since all of its inter-island flights are under 60 minutes. Have you had the opportunity to go slimline yet? What did you think?

Schedule change in Chicago. If you fly through Chicago a lot, be on the lookout for plenty of schedule changes as United “rebanks” its flights this month. Air Transport World reports that United’s re-banking allows it to shorten connection times and improve directional flows at hubs, especially those that rely on East-West traffic flows. United successfully rebanked at its Houston and Denver hubs last year. ATW reports that United expects departures at O’Hare to fall 8% in some periods while aircraft size will increase 10 percent, allowing it to increase revenue and maximize use of valuable slots

New promo from Virgin. Virgin America is offering two-for-one fare discounts on its Dallas love Field routes to Elevate members when they provide the email addresses of three friends who might want to join that frequent flyer program. And the friends will get discounts of up to 20 percent. Virgin is also matching any competitor’s fare out of DAL through April 30. For details, go to www.weinventedhigherexpectations.com.

Delta goes to bat for Braves. When the Atlanta Braves move into their new stadium — SunTrust Park — for the 2017 season, marketing partner Delta will be there too. The expanded partnership between Delta and the ball club calls for the opening of an 18,000-square-foot Delta SKY360 Club on the lower level of the new ballpark, accessible from the premium seating areas. The club will offer dining, a pair of 20-foot video screens, and a 30-foot bar. The new park is located on the northern edge of the city in Cobb County near Cumberland Mall and the Galleria.

1,000 Easy HHonors points. This just in from Hilton… remember the glitch that stymied a promotion for 1,000 easy HHonor, points? Well, it’s back.HHonors members will need to update their passwords by April 1.As of that date, members will be required to create a new password upon login; Hilton will no longer accept PINs. “Since we know this can be a hassle for members, and to encourage adoption of this new login procedure, Hilton is offering an incentive of 1,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points if members update their passwords by March 25, 2015,” the company said. Just log in to your Hilton HHonors account, then go to “personal information” to change your password. More info

Travel apps for Apple Watch. Why should you have to haul out that clunky smartphone every time you want to check in for something? The Apple Watch, unveiled last week, has already started to attract new apps from a variety of travel companies. The initial list includes American Airlines (check in with your watch), Starwood Hotels (open your room door with your watch), TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Expedia and Citymapper. Meanwhile, Marriott announced that instead of providing a credit card at check-in, its guests can soon use Apple Pay, simply by bringing their iPhone 6 or Apple Watch close to a contactless reader at the front desk. The service will be gradually deployed starting this summer at brands including Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Edition and Renaissance.

Passport app expands. A new app called Mobile Passport, introduced last summer for U.S. travelers re-entering the country at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport, is now available for Miami arrivals as well. Users simply input their profiles and answer Customs and Border Protection questions on the app (vs on the old paper forms), then proceed to the Mobile Passport Control express lane, skipping the longer lines. It’s available in the App Store and at Google Play. (We still prefer Global Entry, where you enter via a kiosk instead of a human, but this is pretty good– free, too.)

United tests new gates. Want to see what United Airlines’ next generation of boarding gates might look like? Check out Gates B-4, B-8 and B-10 in United’s Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare. That’s where the carrier is testing a new gate-area design that features things like mood lighting, new seating layouts, standing work stations and “boarding poles” (a la Southwest) for more orderly boarding.

Lyft in, Uber out at Austin. How can a ride-sharing service win approval to operate at an airport in competition with traditional taxi services? By giving the airport a piece of the action. With the popular SXSW festival starting up in Austin last week, Lyft won approval to transport passengers at Austin-Bergstrom Airport by agreeing to give the facility 10 percent of its profits. Uber failed to come to terms with the airport, so its drivers have been threatened with citations if they try to operate there. Meanwhile, San Francisco International Airport said last week it has developed a new system for tracking “app-based forms of ground transportation.” SFO officials said the technology — which it will license to other airports — collects data to be used “for fee calculation, roadway planning and facility improvement efforts.”

How will Hawaii be affected by the drastic drop in foreign currencies? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Now that we are approaching the slower shoulder season, which runs from roughly Easter to Memorial Day, I’m starting to see some nice last minute deals pop up– quite good bargains for those flexy enough to travel in April or May.

Take a look and please note that these rates are subject to rapid change in price and availability:

Hawaii. The plunge in the value of world currencies compared to the US dollar has Hawaii nervous that it will get fewer visitors from abroad, and that its American base might be more interested in a flight to Europe instead of down to the islands. So fares are dropping for spring trips. For example, Hawaiian Air has nonstops between San Jose and Honolulu for as little as $358 round trip. Fly from Oakland or San Jose to Maui for just $388. To me, any West Coast-Hawaii roundtrip fare for less than $400 is a good deal. Hawaiian Air DealsAlaska Airlines is offering similar deals from San Jose or Oakland to Hawaii. Plus it has Los Angeles to Anchorage for just $320 round trip.Alaska Airlines deals

Emirates amazing 2-4-1 deal for economy class seats like these on a new A380 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Dirt cheap to Dubai: Book two round-trip tickets to Dubai on Emirates for just $1,299 in economy (all in). This means just$650 per person, roundtrip from the US to Dubai. Yes, you read that right, only $650 round trip from any of Emirates nine US gateways: New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Washington DC (IAD), Houston (IAH), Seattle (SEA), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) and Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW) to Dubai (DXB). Travel must take place between March 24 and December 10, 2015. And you must book the trip by midnight March 12 PDT. I’ve never seen fares that low from the US to Dubai. Must have something to do with this! Emirates 2-4-1 special

The SWISS flower power A340 appeared in San Francisco in 2010. I miss it! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Europe! The euro continues to plunge against the US dollar, hitting a new low today of $1.07. Some observers think that we could see parity by this spring or summer (1 dollar = 1 euro), down from about $1.40 per euro last May. This means that Americans will find Europe a relative bargain bonanza when it comes to hotels, meals, local transport, gifts, etc. While airfare has remained stubbornly high, I’m now seeing some cracks, such as a flash sale (book by March 11) from SWISS with April/May round trips as low at $789 between Boston and Switzerland or Germany. New York and Budapest just $757.Roundtrips to Istanbul from San Francisco or Los Angeles are in the $1,100 range. SWISS sale fares.

Virgin America & JetBlue launched a two day sale (book by March 11) with fares as low as $128 round trip. Some nice examples from JetBlue: Roundtrip New York to Charleston to watch the flowers bloom for just $128. Long Beach to Oakland or Las Vegas roundtrips for just $99. Seattle or San Diego-Boston for just $188 roundtrip is dirt cheap for a transcon. JetBlue sale site. Virgin America’s sale is good through March 12 for travel April 7-June 10– with blackout dates and only good on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some examples: Dallas-Washington DC is a super low at just $108 round trip. SFO-LAX roundtrips at $140; SFO-Vegas, Seattle & San Diego roundtrips $189. SFO-Palm Springs $199 roundtrip. Virgin America deals.

Alaska Airlines today announced a new nonstop between Seattle and New York JFK with fares as low as $298 round trip PLUS double miles if you purchase your ticket by March 16 and complete your trip by Nov. 18, 2015. Alaska Air to JFK

The view over the Venetian from my room at the Palazzo in Las Vegas (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Las Vegas: Now here’s an interesting deal for folks who have a lot of IHG Rewards points. For today only, you can book the nice Venetian or the The Palazzo, in Las Vegas just 25,000 IHG Rewards Club points. That’s a big 50% discount on points required AND the deal is good for stays all the way through December 28. Must book today or tomorrow (March 11) by noon.

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Please note that these rates are subject to rapid change in price and availability:

Last month Hawaiian Airlines invited me down to Honolulu for a couple days to meet with executives at its slick, newly refurbished headquarters. I was also there to poke around the city’s newest hotels, and to check out what’s been happening on Lanai since Larry Ellison bought it.

This was my first time ever flying Hawaiian Airlines, so I had my eyes wide open. Here are seven things I saw or learned that I’d like to share with you:

1- New planes. Hawaiian flies a 294-passenger Airbus A330 between San Francisco and Honolulu. I liked the spacious wide-body ride, so I was a bit disappointed to learn that some of Hawaiian’s west coast flights will eventually switch to narrow-body A321 flights in the next few years. The carrier has been on a plane-buying binge recently and will soon add more A330s and smaller A321s to its fleet. It’s slowly phasing out its older 767s which cannot reach distant cities like Beijing or New York. As of this week, Hawaiian’s fleet is comprised of 18 Boeing 717s and 3 ATRs (used for inter-island flights), plus 18 A330s and 11 B767s used on long hauls.

Hawaiian Airlines new Airbus A330s are its long haul workhorses (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

2- Aloha shirts, natch. I was surprised that our flight to Honolulu had an all-male crew.

3- Hawaiian has installed 40 “Extra Comfort” premium economy seats on its A330s. Up front they share same cabin with 18 first class seats. Current fares between the West Coast and Hawaii vary a lot based on demand, but looking at trips in early November, SFO-HNL roundtrips are running at about $550 in coach and $1150 in first/business class.Extra Comfort seats go for a premium of $60-$100 each way over coach fares and are only available on A330s.

4- Hawaiian is not part of any of the big three global airline alliances, but it maintains partnership agreements with eight airlines (including American, JetBlue and Virgin America), which allow members of frequent flyer programs to earn and burn miles on Hawaiian flights.

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The fore cabin of Hawaiian’s A330 houses both first and premium economy seats (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Economy class on Hawaiian’s A330 is configured 2-4-2 (Chris McGinnis)

5- Good food! Hawaiian makes a big deal about the fact that it’s the only domestic US carrier that still offers free full meals to coach passengers. And it delivers, in both first and economy class. In addition to the melt-in-your-mouth, brown-sugary goodness of that pineapple upside down cake at the top of this post, first class passengers on morning flights get printed menus, mai-tais and a big hot breakfast. In coach, passengers get a big, warm manapua sandwich, stuffed with chicken, cheese, onions and mushrooms.

6- Hawaiian Air execs are very proud of their expanding route map to Asia… it now flies to four cities in Japan, plus Seoul and Beijing. It also flies nonstop to Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Papeete & Pago Pago. It launched nonstop flights to New York JFK in 2012 and is rumored to be considering adding nonstops to Boston. If you are looking for a nice way to add some vacation to your business trip to Asia, consider flying via Honolulu on Hawaiian which offers free stopovers in either direction. One downside to consider for long-haul flying is that its first/business class seats are recliners and do not lie-flat.

Hawaiian Asia-Oceania route network (Courtesy Hawaiian Airlines)

7- Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley sits alongside other employees (most of whom wear colorful Aloha shirts to work every day) in a big bright new “open plan” headquarters adjacent to the airport. The HQ refurb (completed in January 2014) includes the spacious new “Lunch Box” employee cafeteria that even has its own Yelp page.

At Hawaiian HQ, eating at desks is forbidden, so the mod new lunchroom fills up fast! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

How’d you like to work here? Hawaiian recently renovated its HQ next to the airport and it’s clean, bright and wide-open (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

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Check out all that space in economy class on a big, wide United 767 (Photo: United)

Are the golden days of flying domestically on spacious widebody, twin-aisle aircraft gone? Not necessarily, if you know where to look.

All four major US international airlines — American, Delta, United and US Airways — still operate a handful domestic widebody flights. These big birds are either providing a lot of seats on high-demand routes, positioning planes from hub to hub, offering premium products on valuable flights, or adding temporary capacity for special events. Sometimes widebodies are deployed for short periods of time, like Air Canada’s positioning of a Boeing 767-300ER on SFO-Toronto for four months this winter. Hawaiian Airlines flies only widebodies from the mainland to Hawaii.

Whatever the reason, it’s a bonus for passengers, since widebodies tend to give you more room (or at least the perception of more room) than single-aisle narrowbodies, no matter where you’re sitting in the plane. And internationally-equipped widebodies often offer more robust on-demand entertainment, power outlets, USB sockets, bigger bins and other bells and whistles.

Up front on a widebody, you could find a fully flat bed seat à la international business class to stretch out — usually for no extra fee over domestic first. But not all domestic widebodies offer big new seats up front… notably, US Airways’ 767-200s have older cradle-style sleeper seats, and Delta’s domestic 767-300, coded as 763s, have standard domestic first class seats (see photo).

But how do you find them? Savvy travelers know where they are, but the airlines don’t make it easy when hunting for a flight.

One good tool for finding widebody flights is Routehappy, the half flight search, half data source startup that matches aircraft types to flights and scores them by comfort and amenities. (Disclaimer: an author of this post used to work there.)

We asked Routehappy to show us all the widebody planes jetting around the US on a given day: October 1st, in this case. Here’s what they found. Note that the big birds are on not on every flight, every day– just a chosen few. Also, there are no consistent trends showing that airlines price widebody flights higher than narrowbody flights.

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American Airlines

AA’s domestic widebodies are almost exclusively hub-to-hub.

You’ll find DFW-LAX and Miami-SFO flights using a 767-300ER.

LAX-Miami has a variety of 767-300ERs and 777-200s.

And passengers on Miami-Orlando get a nice, wide 767-300ER for the one-hour ride across the Everglades.

(Note: Delta recently stopped allowing Routehappy to display its inventory on the site, which is too bad. But we’ve located a few here anyway…)

Delta is the sole remaining airline to fly 767 widebodies (76w) on its transcontinental flights between New York and LAX and upfront on that route you’ll find its Business Elite seats. There’s also a 767 between JFK and Detroit with Business Elite up front.

You’ll also find Delta 767s (with domestic first class) on flights between Atlanta and Las Vegas, LAX, Orlando, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, SFO, Salt Lake City and Tampa. Atlanta to LAX passengers can also hop on the ultra-long-haul 777-200LR, which positions to LA from its ATL home for the Sydney flight.

Hawaiian Airlines unusual front-of-the-plane setup on its A330s has first and premium economy in the same cabin (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Air flies both Airbus A330 and Boeing 767s between the mainland and Hawaii– a standout as several carriers are now sending their single aisle planes down to the islands. Hawaiian’s A330s offer domestic style recliners in first class, as well as premium economy (“Extra Comfort”) seating in the fore cabin of the plane. Note: Hawaiian has single aisle Airbus A321s on order that will eventually replace some widebodies from the west coast.

United Airlines

United is the only airline to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner within the USA. You’ll frequently find those on flights between Houston and Denver, LAX, and SFO. (The Houston-LAX flights will even get the brand new stretched 787-9 Dreamliner!)

United 767-300ERs jet between Houston and Washington Dulles, Newark and Chicago O’Hare. You can also find them between Newark and Dulles or SFO.

Serendipity intervened last week when TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis went out to SFO last week expecting to board a United 757 for the four-hour flight to Houston, but ended up in a internationally configured 767 with an upgrade to Business First. 🙂

US Airways

Before US Airways and its rather elderly 767-200 planes disappear — it’s the only US carrier still using the stubby little widebodies — you can find them between Charlotte and Orlando or Philadelphia, and on Orlando-Philadelphia, but less frequently than the other airlines.

BYO device entertainment systems finally working on more United flights (Photo: United)

AIRLINES

United expands in-flight streaming. Passengers on most United Airlines A319s and A320s can now (finally) stream entertainment in-flight. A United official said at an industry conference in Las Vegas that the airline recently activated in-flight entertainment streaming on almost three-fourths of its 152 Airbus narrow-bodies, with the rest coming soon. In-flight streaming — which is already available on UA’s 23 747-400s and all 777-200s to Hawaii — was dependent on completing the installation of in-flight Wi-Fi equipment, he noted. (Have you tried it yet? How did it work?)

ATL flyers short-changed by merger? Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran could prove to be more costly than beneficial for Atlanta-area flyers, according to an analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The paper said that when the government approved the combination, it didn’t foresee Southwest’s drawdown of service at ATL, giving more of the market to an already-dominant Delta. The report said Southwest/AirTran has already cut competition on more than a dozen routes out of ATL, and that Delta’s market share there has grown from 78 to 83 percent.

Ryanair rolls out business fares. Business travelers have never been too fond of Ryanair, the intra-European airline known for ultra-low fares and its broad range of ancillary passenger fees. But now the carrier has come out with a new category of business fares. They’re significantly higher than base fares, but include a menu of services that would otherwise incur hefty fees, like a checked bag, priority boarding, access to premium seats, and, perhaps most significant: a waiver of change fees.

Print your bag tag at home, insert it into special bag tag sleeve at airport, and bypass long luggage check in lines. (Photo: Hawaiian Air)

Hawaiian tries out self-checked luggage. The latest carrier to start testing a procedure for passengers to check their own bags is Hawaiian Airlines. For two months, travelers on its flights from Seattle and Oakland to four Hawaiian destinations can use the TAG@HOME option, which lets them print out bag tags at home when they check in for flights. At the airport, they’ll find a stand with reusable sleeves; tags are slipped into them and attached to the luggage, which is taken to a bag drop. Alaska Airlines offers a similar option for home printing called Self-Tag Express, and United has started offering a self-tagged bag procedure at Chicago O’Hare, but with tags printed at the airport.

Earlier boarding for uber elite? This just in from TravelSkills reader EJ: “When the Delta gate agent called for first class boarding on a recent flight to New York, she invited Diamond Medallion members to board the flight with first class passengers. The agent then waited two minutes before inviting other Sky Priority passengers — Platinum, Gold — to board. As a Diamond flyer with Delta, the invite to board with first class passengers was a pleasant surprise. I’ve had issues with Delta over the years, but Delta deserves kudos in this case. Delta seems to me upping its game on multiple fronts.” Has anyone else received special treatment like this?

Hawaiian, Frontier add routes. Members of American’s AAdvantage program in the San Francisco area are getting a new option for award travel to Maui. AAdvantage partner Hawaiian Airlines said it plans to begin four weekly flights between SFO-Maui on November 20, increasing to daily December 17, using a 294-seat A330-200. Meanwhile, Frontier announced new service starting in late October from Cincinnati to DFW, Orlando, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Ft Lauderdale; from Chicago O’Hare to Phoenix and Salt Lake City and from DFW to Memphis.

Secret spaces on new jets: TravelSkills in London’s Daily Mail. Last week, London’s popular Daily Mail website post on a story we brought you two years ago: An inside look at airline crew rest areas. The Mail story included several images as well as our 8 Best Beds videowe created in 2012 when invited on a Cathay Pacific B777 delivery flight from the Boeing factory in Seattle to Hong Kong. The post was hugely popular… as a matter of fact, view on our video jumped from around 90,000 to over 240,000 in just a few days.

SECURITY

TSA PreCheck hits a milestone. TSA said last week its PreCheck program, now about nine months old, has passed the half-million mark in approved members. What’s more, Customs and Border Protection now has more than 3 million members in its own trusted traveler programs, which include Global Entry for international airport arrivals. TSA said PreCheck is currently available at 118 U.S. airports, while Global Entry can be used at 51 U.S. airports and at preclearance stations in Canada. TSA has opened more than 300 PreCheck application centers nationwide.

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HOTELS

Fees on hotel guests hit a new record. A new study by NYU’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management finds U.S. hotels are on track to haul in a record $2.25 billion in fees and surcharges from guests in 2014 — up from $1.7 billion just four years ago. “Fees and surcharges are highly profitable; most have incremental profitability of 80 to 90 percent or more of the amounts collected,” the study noted. Hotel charges include things like resort fees, early departure fees, Internet fees, room service surcharges and business center fees, among others. Have you been seeing new hotel fees lately? Which ones irritate you the most?

In Case You Missed It…

>Check out this amusing video about the controversial “Knee Defender” incident on United last week.

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Editor Chris McGinnis

Editorial Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program. Responses in the comments section are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.”